I get that feeling I had in my younger days.
Insofar as I'm a diabetic that often runs into bouts of hypoglycemia around the 4-5 o'clock hour, it's important to me to have available a wide array of delicious candy bars. In principle, these things aren't just wonderful snack treats. They're also life savers. I don't mean that they're LifeSavers. Rather, they prevent death.
Canada has some of the American standbys. They have Twix, which, it seems to me on reflection is perhaps one of the greatest of all. One can't do without the cookie crunch for too long. Also, they do, to my great joy, have the T 5. Except up here they call it the MAX 5. But Canada doesn't appear to have any standard Hershey's Chocolate bars. (The T 5 is Hershey's, but for some reason there are a bunch of the standard ones missing.) You know how some college campuses are Coke, some are Pepsi. Well, Canada appears to be Nestle as opposed to Hershey's. This deprives me of the Caramello, the Hershey's Special Dark, Symphony, and your standard Hershey's and Hershey's with Almond. The latter is a significant loss, it seems to me.
But Canada has some candy bars that the US doesn't have. What follows is a description and assessment of the various Canada-specific bars that American's don't have access to:
1. The Aero Bar.
The wrapper makes it seem like it's going to be more like the Nestle Crunch bar, right? (Another bar I haven't yet seen in Edmonton.) WRONG. It's SO not like the Crunch bar. Rather, it's basically a milk chocolate bar with holes in it. That's right. Holes. There's more air in this thing than chocolate. There's like, an ounce of chocoloate, three ounces of air. Or something like that. (I'm not so good with the "ounces".) This bar is a rip-off of gigantor proportions. A rip-off's rip-off.
2. The Sweet Marie.
We don't have the Baby Ruth bar up here. But we do have the Sweet Marie, which is basically a BR but with a few changes. The Sweet Marie is less crumbly. The chocolate is more malleable or something. Anyway, I think that's a plus. But the BR's inner coating is, ironically, sweeter than the Sweet Marie. The Sweet Marie seems like a more sophisticated, travelled, worldly Baby Ruth.
3. The Coffee Crisp.
I genuinely like this bar. It's basically some wafers coated in chocolate with a very slight coffee flavor. Not much more to say about it. A solid bar. It's no MAX 5, but it'll do.
4. The Mr. Big
This bar is pretty big, I mean, it's big in the sense that it's long, but I don't really think it weighs any more than any of the other bars, except for the Aero, which weighs about as much as it's own wrapper. But I think that the Mr. Big is a genuine advance in candy bar construction, and am surprised that something like this hasn't yet been seen in the US. Basically it's a Baby Ruth, elongated, with a long rice-crisp center, rather than a gooey caramel center. It's my favorite so far, I think. Again, no MAX 5, but then again, what is?
5. The Caramilk
Basically the reference point for the Caramilk is the Caramello. They're both cubes of chocolate filled with milky caramel. But for my money, the Caramilk beats the Caramello hands down. One reason: several sets of small cubes rather than one set of big cubes. The best thing about this particular candy bar construction is the experience of biting down on each individual cube. You only get to do that four or five times with the 'mello. The 'milk gives you something like nine or ten.
6. The Wunderbar
This one was a bit of a mystery the first time I had it. I was thinking that it would be more like a Butterfinger, which I also haven't seen north of the border. But no! It was a gooey bar through and through. There wasn't any solid construction to hold it in place. Caramel and peanut butter on the inside, chocolate on the outside. A decent bar, but not my favorite. Good in a pinch.
Now I should say that just because I haven't seen a bar yet doesn't mean they don't have it here. It's possible I just haven't been looking. But I am suprised at the lack of candy crossover. Canada has some good innovations, but some significant missteps, as well. The Aero bar will go down in history as one of mankind's biggest debacles, like the Vietnam War or New Kids on the Block. But there are some upgrades.
Unfortunately, Canada hasn't yet caught up to the dark chocolate craze. However, there is one version of the Kit Kat bar that is "noir," but I'm not sure if they have that in the states yet. Without a symphony or a "Mars Special Dark," you dark lovers are in a bit of a pickle up here, or at least when the 4-5 o'clock hour rolls around.
Canada has some of the American standbys. They have Twix, which, it seems to me on reflection is perhaps one of the greatest of all. One can't do without the cookie crunch for too long. Also, they do, to my great joy, have the T 5. Except up here they call it the MAX 5. But Canada doesn't appear to have any standard Hershey's Chocolate bars. (The T 5 is Hershey's, but for some reason there are a bunch of the standard ones missing.) You know how some college campuses are Coke, some are Pepsi. Well, Canada appears to be Nestle as opposed to Hershey's. This deprives me of the Caramello, the Hershey's Special Dark, Symphony, and your standard Hershey's and Hershey's with Almond. The latter is a significant loss, it seems to me.
But Canada has some candy bars that the US doesn't have. What follows is a description and assessment of the various Canada-specific bars that American's don't have access to:
1. The Aero Bar.
The wrapper makes it seem like it's going to be more like the Nestle Crunch bar, right? (Another bar I haven't yet seen in Edmonton.) WRONG. It's SO not like the Crunch bar. Rather, it's basically a milk chocolate bar with holes in it. That's right. Holes. There's more air in this thing than chocolate. There's like, an ounce of chocoloate, three ounces of air. Or something like that. (I'm not so good with the "ounces".) This bar is a rip-off of gigantor proportions. A rip-off's rip-off.
2. The Sweet Marie.
We don't have the Baby Ruth bar up here. But we do have the Sweet Marie, which is basically a BR but with a few changes. The Sweet Marie is less crumbly. The chocolate is more malleable or something. Anyway, I think that's a plus. But the BR's inner coating is, ironically, sweeter than the Sweet Marie. The Sweet Marie seems like a more sophisticated, travelled, worldly Baby Ruth.
3. The Coffee Crisp.
I genuinely like this bar. It's basically some wafers coated in chocolate with a very slight coffee flavor. Not much more to say about it. A solid bar. It's no MAX 5, but it'll do.
4. The Mr. Big
This bar is pretty big, I mean, it's big in the sense that it's long, but I don't really think it weighs any more than any of the other bars, except for the Aero, which weighs about as much as it's own wrapper. But I think that the Mr. Big is a genuine advance in candy bar construction, and am surprised that something like this hasn't yet been seen in the US. Basically it's a Baby Ruth, elongated, with a long rice-crisp center, rather than a gooey caramel center. It's my favorite so far, I think. Again, no MAX 5, but then again, what is?
5. The Caramilk
Basically the reference point for the Caramilk is the Caramello. They're both cubes of chocolate filled with milky caramel. But for my money, the Caramilk beats the Caramello hands down. One reason: several sets of small cubes rather than one set of big cubes. The best thing about this particular candy bar construction is the experience of biting down on each individual cube. You only get to do that four or five times with the 'mello. The 'milk gives you something like nine or ten.
6. The Wunderbar
This one was a bit of a mystery the first time I had it. I was thinking that it would be more like a Butterfinger, which I also haven't seen north of the border. But no! It was a gooey bar through and through. There wasn't any solid construction to hold it in place. Caramel and peanut butter on the inside, chocolate on the outside. A decent bar, but not my favorite. Good in a pinch.
Now I should say that just because I haven't seen a bar yet doesn't mean they don't have it here. It's possible I just haven't been looking. But I am suprised at the lack of candy crossover. Canada has some good innovations, but some significant missteps, as well. The Aero bar will go down in history as one of mankind's biggest debacles, like the Vietnam War or New Kids on the Block. But there are some upgrades.
Unfortunately, Canada hasn't yet caught up to the dark chocolate craze. However, there is one version of the Kit Kat bar that is "noir," but I'm not sure if they have that in the states yet. Without a symphony or a "Mars Special Dark," you dark lovers are in a bit of a pickle up here, or at least when the 4-5 o'clock hour rolls around.
posted by dd0031 at 4:34 PM
2 comments
